NEWSLETTER! NEWSLETTER! NEWSLETTER!
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Today, I’ll check in with my Instagram AI bot, Dapper John, to see what’s up and we’ll check in with Mrs. Screencaps’ garden to see how it’s going.
And MORE!
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Go ahead and give this an Emmy or Oscar or ESPY or whatever award you want because this was extremely well done
I don’t know if this was done by Fox or was an MLB production. And I’m not just saying it was well done because Fox was on the broadcast and I receive a paycheck from the Fox family.
And as a bonus, we don’t hear Vin Scully mention launch angle or exit velocity. What a moment for baseball.
Were the hip-hop dancers necessary?How’s it going with your smart fridge?
— Mark in Tucson tells us how his smart fridge started off strong, and then, it went horribly wrong:
I’m a little late to the appliance conversation, but my two cents, which probably applies to cars as well: The complexity, government efficiency standards, and bells & whistles in most new appliances virtually assures a shorter lifespan with more problems. In the last two years, we’ve replaced all our fancier appliances (dishwasher, fridge, washer/dryer) with more basic versions, and so far the results are encouraging. But the fridge is the nightmare story: Last year we bought a fancy name-brand fridge from Costco (made in an Ally-Asian-Nation that’s Not Japan [AANNJ]) to replace our kitchen fridge, which was moved to the garage after our garage fridge died.
It was incredible. It had EVERYTHING. It was Wi-Fi enabled, had a beverage center, a secret compartment, French doors, LED lighting, fingerprint-resistant stainless, status console, etc. My wife was in love. A few weeks later, we noticed food was spoiling and frozen items weren’t properly frozen. I hadn’t received an alert, and the entire time, the console said the temp was perfect. So we bought a $5 mechanical thermometer, and lo and behold, the temp was dangerously high. Warranty support, offered through Costco via the AANNJ company, was a minimum three weeks out. It was also notable for AI bots that made it virtually impossible to file a service call for problem like this, where the console indicated temp was perfect, which was one of the first questions asked by the bots.
A quick Google search indicated it was an unfixable problem that might someday trigger a recall or class action lawsuit. Shutting off the power at the breaker for a few minutes would solve the problem for a few days at best. Worst of all, the AANNJ company advised that if they didn’t find a problem, they’d charge for the warranty service call. IOW, we were screwed. We returned it at 85 days and replaced it with a far more basic American-made version. So far, it seems like the smartest thing we ever did.
Thanks for helming the best community on the Internet.
The laundry topic continues to be hot; Bonus: Exotic Wood Guy Mike shows us how he’s rebounding from the Palisades fire
— Mike in Pasadena (Altadena) shares:
Long time no “e” get it? Been here everyday, thought I would jump in to the Laundry conversation, and provide an update from Altadena.
I REFUSE to do the laundry, and I reserve the right to get pissed when I reach for some clothes I need and they aren’t clean. I know some folks will cringe, but hear me out.
I do ALL of the Grocery shopping, I do ALL of the cooking. I do the MAJORITY of the cleaning, and I do 100% of everything outside of the house (landscaping, gardening, weeding etc.) As well as, the oil changes and brake jobs. Not to mention I wash the car (her car) every weekend.
I should not have to wash my clothes, ever. For the record we have a top load maybe 8 years old, no issues.
I rebuilt the burned down fence across the back of the property, to get back all of the security we lost in the fire. I built the fence out of TEAK… it pays to be in the exotic wood business. (you think I should do laundry after that build??!)
The Army Corps of Engineers has almost all of the burned properties around us cleared away, there are still thousands to go further West of us. Several of our neighbors plan to rebuild, but the permitting process is still mired in RED Tape that the sleazy politricksions claimed would be streamlined. It will be years, sadly, before we get back our cozy neighborhood.
— Brandon in northern Kentucky emails:
Good afternoon Joe, this is Older Millennial Brandon in NKY. I’m not understanding the issue with people doing laundry. In our house it’s which one of us notices a load needs to be done. The machine does all the work and you just have to switch it to the drier once it’s done. My older daughter sorts the laundry as needed, and myself or wife hang up the clothes that need to be hung up. We long ago gave up folding very piece of laundry because the kids just turn their baskets upside down right away. The kids all put their own laundry away once a week. Growing up my mom made it seem like laundry was her first full time job and you needed a PH.D in chemistry to do so. It’s pretty straight forward.
Kinsey:
There is no issue. It was a question about the current state of laundry operations in American households. I was trying to get a feel for how many men are doing their own laundry.
It turns out, there are many, many male Screencaps readers who do their own laundry.
— Joel shares:
Joe, like Millennial Chris B. I also do all of the laundry for the house. I choose to do it because I am way more OCD than my wife. Laundry for her takes all day because she refuses to set timers, so for me I can knock it all out in a morning. I’m also very particular about how I fold my clothes, and get annoyed with how my wife does it so nonchalantly. I don’t mind doing the laundry because she is the one making meals for me and the kids and keeping the house clean. Keep up the good work.
— Otis in Mobile shocked me by having a front-load washer:
I had a Samsung front loader that worked well BUT as it aged it became more of a chore to keep the front seal clean at the bottom and there was always a bit of water running down the front at the bottom so when when I decided to get a new one I went with the top loader Maytag (made in USA). That is really the main reason I bought it. Did not go with the agitator model, which makes it useful to wash comforters and other bulky items.
Even though it is only a couple of years old and despite my fondness for top loaders, I am dying to get one of these beasts.
I would probably go with the GE model, but you get the idea. Imagine the space this would open up in the laundry room, and wash/dry completed in just over an hour?
Any of the screencaps readers have one of these? Does it work well?
— Ken says he’s on laundry duty for the entire family:
Celebrated my 30th wedding anniversary with my wife last month (and yes, I out kicked my coverage).
I do the laundry for the family. Been doing it since around a month into our marriage. It is the best chore ever to be responsible for. My wife does not like to do it and I can fit in what I need to do laundry wise with my sports viewing weekend schedule. Wife considers it 5-10 hours of work, when really I am actively only doing anything for under an hour or so a week – the washer and dryer does the rest. I feel like I hit the lottery with laundry duties.
Most of our other home chores are traditional. For example, I pay the bills, I do our investments, I take care of mowing the lawn, I take out the garbage, etc. She cooks, she cleans, and she empties the dishwasher. Plus she takes care of a lot of other stuff around the house.
Do you have a system for taking out the trash?
— Michael in Pittsburgh had this on his mind:
After having done some unplanned can cleaning this AM due to a grub invasion, it got me wondering if am I the only one who has a “system” for taking out the trash?
1: Don’t just dump it or toss the bag in the can: place it in open end of bag facing up (not on the side or upside down). Want to avoid spills and stuff getting stuck to the sides and the bottom, which I then have to go diving in to get out before cleaning. Worst case scenario: you end up with stench, increased stickiness and mess, maggots and other critters as well.
2: 1 knot on the bag, maximum. That way I can add more stuff to the bags to avoid situation 1. Mrs. likes 3 knots or more, as if the garbage is going to escape.
3: Recyclable glass and plastic go in their respective can without a bag. It’s WM’s rule, not mine. I happen to think it makes sense.
4: Anyone else occasionally rinse the insides with a little soap or bleach? I know that you can actually hire a service to do this, but I see no reason to get carried away.
Kinsey:
There’s a business around here where a company comes out and power washes your trash cans. I don’t know what the price is, but it’s pretty popular among people on the town’s Facebook page.
The current state of slow-pitch softball
— Jeremy M. writes:
I was a few years removed from college and caught on with a local slow pitch softball league in San Diego (there are a ton there). I really enjoyed beers before games and beers after games.
The first few seasons were a blast, and I was definitely a “used to play baseball in high school” guy, complete with baseball pants in rec league softball. However, as time went by it got more and more competitive to the point where people were using illegal bats in a league where the only prize was a horribly screen-printed T-shirt with the name of the league and the year.
They’d use a legal bat’s sticker to cover the graphics of known illegal bats. God forbid we played in a competitive co-ed league as these goons would take out all their midlife aggression should they see a female who dared play in the infield and smoke everything at her for a cheapie base hit.
Several guys I played with refused to man the hot corner because they’d suffered. It stopped being fun and I haven’t played in 10+ years now.
Kinsey:
Have you (the readers) ever bragged at a social event about winning a rec softball league title?
Using illegal bats in rec softball? What are we doing folks?
That said, I want more slow-pitch softball stories. One of you has to be damn near pro. We have athletes in just about every sport reading this column. One of you travels all over the country for softball. Give me the details on the current state of the sport.
EMAIL: JOE.KINSEY@OUTKICK.COM OR USE MY PERSONAL GMAIL
Bo in Michigan officially becomes Bo in Arizona after a big move and a big temperature change
— Great American Bo writes:
Joe, thanks for the oasis of sanity (allegedly) in a crazy-ass world! The last couple of months have been crazy with the move from MI to AZ, but we are almost mission complete.
The last 3 years in MI we had a front-load washer (legacy from previous owners). Didn’t care for it much, especially having to replace the door seal which had some mold stains. We bought new W/D for our place here, and went back to top loader. I do my laundry, and my wife does hers. Been doing mine since I joined the Army (43 years ago..damn I’m old).
We used PODS (not sponsored) for this move, and generally had a great experience with them. They did unilaterally change a couple of dates on us, which was frustrating. The device they use to get the pod on/off the truck is cool as hell. Would recommend them as a great way to move..you can get your stuff one pod at a time, get it put away, then have the next one delivered. Superior to the box tsunami of everything at once IMO.
It’s strange going from mowing 10 acres to not having a mower. Backyard here is artificial turf, pavers and gravel. House didn’t come with a pool, so we got that project underway over this past weekend. Pretty excited as our “Welcome to Phoenix” temp on 30 June was 118. It’s been in the lower 100s mostly since..not too bad with no humidity.
Shoutout to the Springfield MO Police Department who responded to our trailer getting broken into on the way from MI to AZ. It was cool getting to watch them collect DNA evidence early on a Sunday morning, which was the only good part of that morning.
I used to dread the end of summer (golf season ending), but fixed that issue lol. If there’s any SC readers here who want to link up for a coldbeer and/or golf I will be ready by the end of the month. America is THE greatest nation ever to exist. GBA!
Show us how your summer is going
— Brett in St. Joseph, MO writes:
I’m finally getting caught up on SCs tonight. I feel like I’m missing out on something if I don’t read each day in order. I’ve been several days behind due to the busyness of summer.
I spent a weekend up in Muskegon seeing my brother a few weeks ago. We played some golf and went to the beach. Lake Michigan is beautiful in the summer.
Then we just got back Saturday from a week in Orange Beach, AL spent with 83 of my friends and their families! My sister-in-law got married, a couple got engaged, 2 people celebrated their birthdays and 2 couples celebrated their anniversaries. My wife and I #3 on Friday, the 11th. And the last day I saw the world’s tiniest Hooters in Gulf Shores. I didn’t get a picture, but that’s what the marquee said outside.
I really enjoyed your baseball updates each week! Sorry how the season ended but props to you for keeping your cool. My dad coached several of my rec league teams as a kid and he would have reacted the exact same way.
Kinsey:
True story: Back in the early 1990s, we went to Muskegon one summer and I remember it being like one of the dirtiest, most disgusting Rust Belt cities on Lake Michigan. It was completely grungy.
Now?
It’s one of the most desirable Michigan tourist stops.
Brett and his wife get it.
The Current State of Gen Z: Remember, there are young adults who are keeping this country running
— Dean in Fond du Lac, WI shares what his boys are up to:
Recently, you printed emails from people about their Gen Z kids entering West Point to become the US Army’s future leaders. My oldest son is a sergeant in the Army National Guard who volunteered / enlisted over a decade ago while he was still in high school.
While my wife and I didn’t drop him off at West Point, we still saw him off at the airport when he flew to Columbia, SC, for basic training at Fort Jackson in August 2015. I remember being very proud of him for enlisting. Today, he is in command of an artillery piece and its crew.
In addition to being responsible for the gun and its crew, he has to know everything that everyone on that crew does in order to fire an artillery shell. He has attained that rank and position as he has shown that he is a responsible soldier during his time in the Guard. He had enlisted to pay for college.
Today, he has no college loan debt as the Army National Guard paid for his Bachelor of Science degree that he earned as holding up their end of the bargain for his enlistment.
My younger son is just as responsible as his older brother in his job as a welder. He has said a number of his Gen Z peers who were hired since he was hired had discovered that welding was a hot and dirty job, sometimes with long hours, and who then quit because it was “too hard”. He has earned the respect of his older co-workers by showing up on time, working hard, and getting his hands dirty.
As a result, he is making really good money – he is in an industry where they can’t ship those jobs to China or other places overseas and that has a shortage of skilled workers.
We (my wife and I) are proud of our Gen Z sons for being productive, hardworking members of society. Not all Gen Zers are slackers who want to have everything handed to them.
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And with that great message, let’s call it a Wednesday. The youth, many of them, especially kids of Screencaps readers, are alright.
It’s the middle of the month and I’m feeling like this is officially the Dog Days of Summer. The experts say the dog days are from Jul 3 — Aug 11, but I didn’t really feel it until this week.
Those of us working have to battle through. Yes, we’re dragging while waiting for football. Yes, there’s nothing on TV besides the WNBA. We MUST dig deep.
Don’t give up. Battle through. Make a golf tee time. Be active.
Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com or use my personal Gmail
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